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Luke 4:18 The Spirit of the Lord is upon me,

KJV Verse:

Luke 4:18 The Spirit of the Lord is upon me, because he hath anointed me to preach the gospel to the poor; he hath sent me to heal the brokenhearted, to preach deliverance to the captives, and recovering of sight to the blind, to set at liberty them that are bruised,

Greek Verse:

Literal Alternative:

Spirit of Lord upon me! On account of that, he anointed me to bring good news myself to beggars. He has dispatched me to proclaim to prisoners release! And to blind ones? Seeing again! To dispatch the ones who have broken themselves down into release.

Hidden Meaning:

This verse is a paraphrase of the Septuagint (Greek OT) version of Isaiah 61.1. It is interesting because it contains a number of words Christ uses nowhere but here. This indicates that Christ was reading the Greek Septuagint of his time, not translating from the Hebrew. The Greek follows the Septuagint exactly, except of a phrase missing in the middle. this is interesting because, at some point, those who translated this in the Latin Vulgate referred to the OT source (Isaiah 61:1), but the people who translated the KJV into English did not try to make their translation conform to the OT source or their translation of it.

The word translated as "spirit" has been used in the section to mean "non-material beings" but it primarily means "breath", "wind," and "blast." Like "spirit" in English, it can also mean "attitude" or "motivation.' It also means the "breath of life," from which we get to "spirit" and "spiritual." It also means the "breath of life," from which we get to "spirit" and "spiritual." Its meaning as "the breath of life" is brought out by the idea of creating life. Its meaning as "spiritual" is brought out by the contrast with "physical". Read more about this word in this article on the holy spirit.

The word translated as "Lord" means "lord", "master of the house," and "head of the family." It is the specific terms for the master of slaves or servants, but it was a common term of respect both for those in authority and who were honored. It was the term people used to address Christ, even though he had no formal authority. Today, we would say "boss" or "chief". It is used without am article ("the") to indicate God.

An untranslated word here is a demonstrative pronoun ("this" "that"), but it often acts as a pronoun ("the one that), especially a connective pronoun ("the one that") introducing a dependent clause. It is possessive, "of that one".

"He hath anointed me" is from the Greek verb form of the noun translated as "Christ". It means to"rub" and "anoint with scented unguents or oil".

"Me" is the regular first person pronoun in Greek."

"To preach the gospel" is from a verb that means "to bring good news", and "to announce". It is in form where the subject acts on himself or does something for themselves, or, in this case, "myself."

"Poor" is an adjective that means "beggar", "beggar-woman," and "beggarly." It is plural and there is no article, so not "the poor" but rather "beggars".

The "he hath sent" here is a Greek word that means "to send off" and "dispatch." It is the source of our word "apostle." It is translated as "to set" latter in the verse.

Today's Greek source (Morphological GNT and version I use at Tuft's Perseus project) do not have the Greek words for to "heal the broken-heated." Those words are in the Septuagint version, (see below) however. They also appear in the Latin Vulgate, which was the source of the KJV Greek.

The word translated as "preach" means "to act as a herald", "to proclaim," and "to declare."

The Greek word translated as "captives" means "captive" and "prisoner." It is an adjective, used as a noun. When Christ does this, he usually uses an article ("the"), but the OT Septuagint does so less often because the article is not used in the original Hebrew. This word is uncommon for Christ to use.

"Deliverance" is from the noun form of the word Christ often uses that is translated as "forgive" but which means "let go" or "let drup." It sense is "release" as in releasing something so it is free. This word is uncommon for Christ to use. It is used again below.

The Greek adjective translated as "blind" means "blind" but also "dim" and "lacking vision of the future."

The Greek word translated as "recovering of sight" is not a verb but a noun meaning "seeing again."

"To set" is a word that means "to send off" and "dispatch." It is in the form of "to dispatch".

The word translated as "at" primarily means "in", "within", "with," or "among." It follows the "them that are bruised" below.

"Liberty" is the same as "deliverance" above, from the noun form of the word Christ often uses that is translated as "forgive" but which means "let go" or "let drup." Its sense is "release" as in releasing something so it is free. This word is uncommon for Christ to use. It follows the word below.

"Them that are bruised" is the Greek verb, that means "to break in pieces", "shatter", "break down", and "enfeeble." It is in the adjective form of "having broken down". It is used as a noun so "the broken down", but in a form where the subject acts on themselves, so "the ones who have broken themselves down." This word is uncommon for Christ to use.

Wordplay:

An interesting example of quoting scripture using the terms of the Septuagint.

Vocabulary:

Κυρίου (noun sg masc gen) "Lord" is from kyrios(kurios), which means "having power", "being in authority" and "being in possession of." It also means "lord", "master of the house," and "head of the family."

κηρύξαι (verb aor inf act) "Preach" is kerysso, which means "to be a herald", "to summon by a herald", "proclaim", "call upon", "announce", "declare," and "command publicly." Only in the NT is it translated as "preach" or "teach pubicly."

καὶ (conj) "And" is kai, which is the conjunction joining phrases and clauses, "and," or "but." After words implying sameness, "as" (the same opinion as you). Used in series, joins positive with negative "Not only...but also." Also used to give emphasis, "even", "also," and "just." -- The Greek word translated as "and" is used as the conjunction "and", but it also is used to add emphasis ("also") and, in a series, is best translated as "not only...but also." When used in writing, it creates complex sentences, but when spoken, it makes a good pausing point so that an important or humorous word can follow.

ἀνάβλεψιν, [uncommon] (noun sg fem acc) "Recovering of sight" is from the noun, anablepsis, which means "looking up", "seeing", and "recovery of sight". It is a combination of the prefix meaning "upwards" and "again" with the root noun meaning "sight";